Portsmouth stepped a game ahead of Chillicothe for their 12 consecutive win and grabbed sole possession atop the SEOAL with a 56-34 home victory over the Cavs.

It’s been 20 years since Portsmouth has been in the driver’s seat for a league championship. They’ve done it by winning the close games. Coach Eugene Collins says his Trojans avoided some speed bumps along the way, hanging
on for wins at Logan, Jackson and Chillicothe “and that’s the reason we’re
where we are.”

The game had swings of momentum and was nip and tuck for nearly three quarter but Portsmouth rode the biggest wave in the second half, sparked by a goal tending call on the Cavs’ MaLik London.

It came during Chillicothe’s last serious threat in the final three minutes of the third. The Cavs got a quick series of thunderous dunks by MaLik London on back-to-back trips to cut the margin to 30-29. Then London raced back to defend a shot by McKinley and was called for goal tending.

Collins said it was the turning point in the game. “It kinda got our kids goin’ and we went on from there.”

The Trojans jumped out to a 9-4 lead on back-to-back baskets by Dion McKinley, but the Cavs closed the gap on a shot by London and a couple of shots by Jalen Jones to close the quarter at 11-10 Portsmouth.

In the second, the Trojans went ahead by six 18-12 at the 4:48 mark on a bucket by Jallen Carter. Adam Bixler hit a short jumper to tie the game at 18 and an Aaron Elliott three-pointer from the corner gave the Cavs their first lead of the game at 1:27. Chillicothe used a 9-2 run to take a 21-20 lead into intermission.

Held scoreless in the first half, Zach Johnson found the bottom of the net to start the 3^rd for a 23-20 Cavs lead. It was their last of the game.

Zaide Whitley drained a three from the left wing to tie the game and Portsmouth went on a run to take a 30-25 lead.

Leading 32-29 with 2:29 left in the 3^rd, the Trojans extended their lead to seven and had the ball with less than two seconds left in the quarter. Whitley drained another 3-ball and Portsmouth was up by ten through three quarters.

The Trojans finished off Chillicothe with a 17-5 fourth period.

The Cavs had some opportunities in the third to see-saw with Portsmouth, but had four turnovers in four trips. The Trojans had 17 takeaways on the night.

London was the Cavs leading scorer with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

McKinley paced the Trojans with 14 points, Whitley had 13 and Wayne Evans had 11. Portsmouth had a good night from the three-point line hitting 8-of-12. Whitley had three and Carter added three more.

Chillicothe (11-6/6-2) holds a slight lead over Warren (5-2) in the SEOAL. The Warriors scored a 57-55 victory over Logan.

NOTES: One of the oddities of the game came from the free throw line. There were only three shots taken on the night, one by Jalen Jones and two by Charlie Demint. Neither made the shots. Portsmouth had no attempts… According our buddy “Trojandave” of www.southeasternohiopreps.com Portsmouth leads the series 43-41 after completing the season sweep of the Cavaliers… Chillicothe won the Freshman game 27-23 and the Junior Varsity game 56-52.

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